In 2009 the world’s macrophotographers- both amateur and professional- continued to capture breathtaking images of the arthropod microscape. I’ve been bookmarking insect photos from around the web that catch my eye, and after spending some time this week reviewing the candidates I’ve selected nine favorites. Wow. These are the images from fellow photographers that most captured my imagination over the past year.

The fine points of anatomy, including little tubercle on the caudal horn, and general pattern are the same, so even though not by any means expert in this family of insects, I feel fairly comfortable saying these are very likely the same species of “hornworm”, or Sphingidae. They grow up into “hawk moths”. There you go, three terms to google for more info.